On the verge of losing his composure, Gray nodded and ducked out of the study before he could embarrass himself. Emma was coming down the stairs with her suitcase and stopped short when she saw him there. His heart lurched at the sight of her, and he knew—he absolutely, positively knew in that one second of charged glances—he was doing the right thing going with her.

He went up the stairs to relieve her of the suitcase.

She smiled at him, and he noticed the sadness in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

“No. I’m terrible.”

He loved that she didn’t tell him what she thought he wanted to hear, but rather laid out the truth. “I have a little surprise for you that I hope will make you feel less terrible.”

“What kind of surprise?” she asked warily, as if life had conditioned her to fear surprises rather than relish them. He’d have to work on changing her expectations when it came to surprises.

“The kind I hope you’ll be happy about.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“Mom! I need you! I can’t get my sweater on.”

Emma handed him the suitcase and turned to go back up the stairs, but the look she gave him over her shoulder told him she was dying to know what he’d been about to say.

Grayson smiled at her and then took the suitcase downstairs to wait, impatiently, for them to come down.

They appeared a few minutes later, Simone wearing a cardigan with her sling on over it.

“You don’t need your coat for the car,” Grayson said. “You’ll be too hot on the ride.”

“Keep it handy in case we stop anywhere, though,” Emma added.

Lucy, Lincoln, Max and Molly, who was holding Caden, came to the mudroom to see them off with hugs and bags of cookies for the ride.

“Come back any time,” Molly said when she hugged Emma and then Simone. “Our barn is your barn.”

“We had the best time ever,” Simone said.

“So did we,” Linc said, tweaking the little girl’s nose and making her giggle.

Simone gave Caden noisy kisses while Molly held him low enough for her to reach, and when Max kissed Emma’s cheek and said, “Thanks for everything,”

Grayson knew a moment of pure jealousy at realizing she had formed a friendship with his younger cousin. Ridiculous. He wasn’t a jealous sort of guy. Or he never had been before.

“I’ve got to get to work,” Max said. “You’re all set with him, Mom?”

“We’ll be perfectly fine. Go on ahead.”

Max went out as Elmer came in, bringing freezing air and drifting snow. “Glad I caught you,” he said to Emma. “Wanted to say good-bye—for now—to you and Simone.”

“That’s so sweet of you, Mr. Stillman,” Emma said.

“Call me Elmer. Please.”